United Nations Radio

Although food prices may have come down for the time being, the number of hungry people is set to rise again, and the prospects for smallholders remain grim.

That's what Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a high-level meeting on Food Security For All in Madrid, Spain on Tuesday.

too little food for too many

The Secretary-General warns that world poverty cannot be reduced without improvements in agriculture and food systems.  He says farmers can produce more, but not without help in such areas as credit, seeds, fertilizers and land security.

Secretary-General Ban says the coordination promoted by the United Nations to deal with the food crisis last year resulted in an unprecedented effort to support nations and respond to the impact of the food crisis on the world's most vulnerable people.

He says as food prices rose and brought the number of hungry people close to one billion, the UN system achieved the largest emergency scale-up against hunger and malnutrition in human history.
Now, he adds, we will have to work even harder in 2009, this year of recession.

He points to 2008, for example, when they were unable to get the seeds and fertilizers to all the smallholders who needed them in two planting seasons.
And he warns "we must do better in 2009".

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.
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